Alone with Natuke. 197 



bird or sight of flower is enjoyed by the devotee, and as he 

 casts his eyes aloft and around, tlie earth appears a paradise, 

 and anglers the only appreciative recipients of its blessings. 

 Hence, from the variety of emotions which entrance the mind 

 of the angler, men of genius and learning, especially those of 

 ideal temperament, such as poets, painters, sculptors, philoso- 

 phers, and worshipers of nature, become so penetrated with 

 the beauties which surround its pursuit, that the cold, calcu- 

 lating outer world deems them mad upon a trivial subject. 

 But it was owing solely to the pleasures which angling con- 

 fers that Thomson, Burns, Scott, Hogg, and a host of other 

 acknowledged worthies, succeded by Prof. Wilson, Words- 

 worth, King Leopold, Dr. Bethune, and Daniel Webster, ea- 

 gerly exchanged the gray goose-quill and the fellowship of 

 books for the gently-tapering trout-rod and the music of the 

 rills and cascades, older than the rhythm of Homer, and as at- 

 tractive as the propositions of Socrates. " Therefore it was 

 that Paley left his meditative home, and Davy his tests and 

 crucibles, Chantrey his moulds, models, and chisel-work — each 

 and all to rejoice and renovate themselves," and to fish up 

 new ideas as with the gentle wand they cast their lines in 

 pleasant places, playing trout in sparkling waters, and enjoy- 

 ing a sportive recreation which ever fills the mind with pure 

 and joyous emotions, tempered by serene philosophy. 



